Post-Herpes Zoster Neuralgia: Response to Vitamin E Therapy

To the Editor.—  In November 1973, after a postgraduate symposium on dermatology, a general practitioner asked the panel of dermatologists about the treatment of post-herpes zoster neuralgia. No satisfactory answer was received from any of the five consultants, including me, on the panel. It was, therefore, with much interest that I read a letter by Drs. Ayres and Mihan¹ in the Archives. They described almost complete control of pain in nine of 13 patients suffering from post-herpetic neuralgia following treatment with vitamin E.During the first three months of 1974, with the help of general practitioner colleagues in Ayrshire, Scotland, it was easy to collect and treat eight patients with this most disturbing complaint. There were six women aged 56 to 72 years and two men aged 60 and 64 years.Each patient was given 400 international units (IU) of vitamin E (Dalpha tocopheryl acetate) daily before meals